Colossians 2:6-15 - Active Passiveness

Chad Werkhoven
4 days ago
4 min read

Your faith is a gift, but building it up takes hard work!

Text "Let your roots grow down into Him" on a dark, earthy background with visible tree roots. Colossians 2:7 at the bottom. — Bible.com

Colossians 2:6-15 (NIV)

6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Canons of Dordt

Point 1 - God's Unconditional Election

Point 2 - Limited Atonement

Articles 1-5

Article 6: Unbelief, a Human Responsibility

However, that many who have been called through the gospel
1. do not repent or believe in Christ
2. but perish in unbelief
is not because the sacrifice of Christ offered on the cross
1. is deficient or insufficient,
2. but because they themselves are at fault.

Article 7: Faith God’s Gift

But all who genuinely believe and are delivered and saved
1. by Christ’s death from their sins and from destruction
  1. receive this favor solely from God’s grace—
  2. which God owes to no one—
2. given to them in Christ from eternity.

Summary

There are times where life outside of Christ and apart from His Church seem free and easy; you just do what you want to do when you want to do it. But as Paul explains to the Colossians, things aren't always as they seem. Look at how he describes those detached from Christ: they're captives of hollow and deceptive philosophy; they're ruled by the flesh (Sarx); ultimately, they're completely dead in their sins.

In other words, life apart from Christ is anything but free.

Contrast that ugliness with those who have received Christ Jesus as Lord: Our lives are described as rooted, built up, strengthened, and overflowing with thankfulness. We've been made alive with Christ, forgiven and have had our legal indebtedness - that insurmountable bill which stood against us and condemned us for breaching God's covenant - that charge has been cancelled by God since it was taken away by Christ and nailed to the cross.

Christ's victory over sin and death was full and final. In His life, death, resurrection and ascension, He disarmed the very powers and authorities that seek to take you captive. He didn't just quietly defeat them, rather He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

Dig Deeper

The two articles of the Canons of Dordt we've been working through this week once again showcase the tension present in our theology. On the one hand, those who do not repent or believe in Christ have nobody to blame but themselves. One of the key aspects of the doctrine of Limited Atonement is that people perish in their unbelief not because the sacrifice of Christ offered on the cross is deficient or insufficient, but because they themselves are at fault.

On the other hand, those of us who genuinely believe and are delivered and saved cannot take the credit for lifting ourselves out of the sin and misery we'd plunged ourselves into. Rather, we received this favor solely from God’s grace—which God owes to no one.

Nobody is forced to reject Christ - it's they're own fault for doing so, yet those who've been delivered and saved by Christ’s death from their sins and from destruction can take no credit. In other words, those who actively remain dead in their sins do so voluntarily, while those who have received Christ Jesus as Lord do so because we've passively been made alive by God with Christ.

Yet even though you owe your life to God's gift of grace which you've passively received, Paul gives you some very active steps to follow each day: live your life in Christ, rooted, built up and strengthened in the faith you've been taught. Live in a way that overflows with thanksgiving. Finally, aggressively see to it that no one takes you captive and drags you back into the sin you've been rescued from.

AAA Prayer (About)

ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, in whom all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will actively build yourself up in the faith that you've passively received;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED: